Barbershop

10:14 am

Fri November 15, 2013

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Now it's time for our weekly visit to the Barbershop where the guys talk about what's in the news and what's on their minds. Sitting in the chairs for a shape-up this week are writer Jimi Izrael, with us from Cleveland. From Boston, health care consultant and contributor to National Review magazine, Neil Minkoff. Here in Washington, Paul Butler, professor of law at Georgetown University. And Corey Dade, contributing editor for The Root. Take it away, Jimi.

New York City became a leader in pushing restaurants to be more transparent when it required calorie counts on menus in 2006. Now the city's health department has developed a new tool for those who'd like even more detailed information about restaurant food.

The Two-Way

9:39 am

Fri November 15, 2013

The House votes Friday on a bill submitted by GOP Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, shown with Speaker John Boehner, that seeks to ensure Americans can keep their existing insurance plans even if those policies don't meet standards in the Affordable Care Act.

The House has approved a Republican-sponsored bill that would allow insurance companies to continue offering policies that would be canceled because they don't meet the standards of the Affordable Care Act. The Keep Your Health Plan Act, H.R. 3350, was adopted by a vote of 261-157, with 17 members not voting.

We've updated the top of this post with the results of the vote and other news.

The Two-Way

8:28 am

Fri November 15, 2013

A member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant urges Syrians in the city of Aleppo to fight against the Assad regime. This week, the militants apologized for beheading a commander from another anti-Assad group.

"Mayor Rob Ford will essentially be mayor in name only after Monday," writes the Toronto Sun. "Three special council meetings — two to be held Friday and one on Monday — have been called to strip Ford of all the powers delegated to him by council and slash his mayor's office budget."

Behind all our material goods, from iPhones to sneakers, is a narrative of exploited Chinese workers with bleak lives. Reporter Leslie T. Chang says that's a disrespectful narrative. She sought out workers in a Chinese megacity and tells their stories.